Saturday, November 03, 2007

When Twice Becomes a Failure

When it comes to food and services, it is quite true that no matter how good your food is, when your service sucks, you just fail, mainly because food is something people can easily find alternative unlike government agencies that no matter how bad their services are, we still have to endure them with a smile.

For lunch, I visited Black Canyon Coffee this afternoon. If i have to give it a pass or fail score, it already failed right at the beginning. I was at the outside browsing at the menu, when suddenly a staff came out and shouted, asking people to visit the restaurant. As I enter, no staff take notice of me and I find a place where I'm easily noticed but still after a few minutes, none of the staff realize that i just came and without a menu or cutleries on the table. FAILED! In providing good service, the staff must be alert at all times. And because the restaurant is only half filled, I believed it is easily for the staff to recognize who are the new customers, and yet...

Suddenly one of the staff passed by and kind of asked me if i have order or not. So I briefly tell her 'no' and she came back with a worn out menu. Considering that this restaurant business is quite okay (I've passed by many a times), I believed the management should have allocated some budget for maintenance. FAILED again.

One good thing is that one need not to wait long for the food and the presentation seems acceptable. Taste wise, okay. I had one of its specialty, rice with soft shell crab and hot basil. At the price of 95 baht, I do find it value for money.

After finishing the drink, I asked for the bill and the staff nodded. 7 minutes later, the bill has yet to appear and looking at the cashier counter, I don't think it will appear anytime soon. So I decided to ask again for the bill and only then it arrived. To me, when a customer need to ask for the bill twice, your service already FAILED considering the restaurant is half filled. Having so many staff and yet not able to deliver such simple requirements.

No matter how good and how good pricing your food is, when your service fails, you fail!